As the Road Moves Underfoot…

Modes of Travel: (essentials for the skimmers)

• We made it to Lima, thus far, halfway home.
• There are strikes all over Peru. A number of people were killed in the violence. Travel is restricted and frustrating.
• My photos are not longer at Yahoo! Photos because Yahoo! Photos is closing. Find my photos, old and new, at my Photobucket.

Strikes: (extras for the non-skimmers)

Dear apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, (see Eph 4:11)

I wanted to take a second to explain what the purpose of this trip was. I imagine some of you might be wondering, "Aren't they going to witness to people and share the Gospel?" The answer is "YES!," but we want to make sure we take care of some things first. This trip was to study the culture and language so that we can present the Gospel in a relevant and understandable way. For instance, even though many Tigre Quichuas speak Spanish as a second language, they are more likely to miss understand the teaching in that language and develope a bad understanding of the Gospel and doctrines. That's why we didn't share with the people so much this time.

I'll stay politically nuetral on what's going on and stick to the facts surround the strikes. There are union-organized strikes and demonstrations of teachers demanding higher salaries all over the country. Long story short, some of the demonstrations escalated to violence in some of the cities including rioters throwing rocks at police, people trampled in the rush, a bus being forced off a mountain road (killing 16, injuring 6, so i hear), and the train to Machu Picchu (one of the New 7 Wonders of the World) being over taken and stranding thousands of tourists. All that being said, we haven't been able to travel via land since Iquitos. We secured a flight to Puerto Maldonado that leave Lima on Monday. Just have to wait now.

Instead of paying for our transport from Intuto to Iquitos, we opted to work as cargo movers on the boat in order to get free passage. We bore large bundles of fruit and other goods for about 20 hours, loading them on the boat by hand at every village we stopped at. Poor Drew had his wallet and about $70 stolen from his bag on the boat coming from Intuto last week. When we got to Iquitos, he found an email saying he'd lost his job at VA Tech and possibly his on-campus housing. Since he's a volunteer, most of this trips expenses, expected and unexpected, come out of his pocket. Not a good day.

I can't wait 'til the 23rd when my folks and sister are coming to visit me in Puerto Maldonado. We are going to have such a time!

PrayeRequests:

• Pray that we would form a functional and relevant Bible story track for the Tigre Quichuas now that we have lots of info on their culture.
• Pray as i study the Quichua language.
• I hear Levi should come back from Ecuador on July 31st!! Praise God he was able to gather enough funds. He even found 3 or 4 other young people who speak Quichua who might be coming!
• Drew and i will leave, Lord willing, this Monday morning around 9am via air. Pray for opportunities to share with other travelers and decision making as we choose our path.
• Pray for the people involved in the strikes and riots on both sides to have wisdom to do what they need to do and not turn to violence, if possible, at the same time.

Quote of the Week:

Upon reflecting how the indigenous communities act toward our presence... "I feel like a black person visiting my church." -me

love yuns,
†il the whole world hears,
corey reid pendergrass